Nightmares
by tenroads
Summary: Case Fic. During a mysterious case involving the death of men in their sleep, Sam and Dean clash as Sam's true feelings towards Ruby are brought to the surface and Dean is forced to face his past sins.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Not mine

Nightmares

Chapter 1: Demon Bitches and Dead Chicks

Greasy breakfasts consisting of scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon and pancakes were a stable in the diets of Sam and Dean Winchester. Unfortunately the life of a hunter did not afford luxuries such as home-cooked meals, more often than not the meals that the two brothers consumed were of the crappy restaurant variety usually consisting of eggs and pancakes while lunches and dinners consisted of burgers, steak or some other "heart healthy" meal of some sort. At the moment the two brothers were having breakfast in yet another diner which evoked a fine sense of Americana.

"Dude, a bagel, really?" asked Dean as he watched Sam begin to slice his way through the bagel with his butter knife before he eagerly began to cut through one of the three massive pancakes that had come with his meal.

"What? I'm sick of bacon, eggs and pancakes." Replied Sam as he began to spread the cream cheese.

"Is that strawberry cream cheese?" asked Dean raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah…so what?"

"So, you sure you wouldn't like a nice apple martini alongside that strawberry cream cheese bagel of yours?" commented Dean with a smirk on his face. "Or how about a Mohito or a drink with one of those little umbrellas in it? After all they are FAB-U-LOUS."

"Dude, shut up." said Sam as he turned back to his laptop, skimming the internet for clues that could possibly lead the two brothers to a new case, or even on the trail of Lilith.

"So, what've we got." asked Dean through a mouthful of pancakes, bacon, eggs and a little bit of coffee.

Sam squinted as he searched through the local "Bunch of weird deaths have been occurring here over the past few months." He replied before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Sam, weird is a little vague dontcha think?" said Dean, "You gotta elaborate a bit more."

"Alright, 24 deaths over the past six months, all males 25-30, all in great physical condition, all of them died in their sleep."

"In their sleep?"

"Yeah, simple open shut case. Coroners think that it was because of heart failure." said Sam eyeing the bacon on Dean's plate with a frown on his face. "Doubtful especially when you consider that over half of the males were athletes and were in excellent health."

"Don't worry I've still got a few years before I start hitting up the oatmeal and egg whites." Reassured Dean with a mouthful of pancakes, eggs and bacon, noticing the frown that had formed on Sam's face. "So, any idea what could give those poor bastards a case of the sleep deaths? Poison apple maybe?"

Sam took a deep sip of his coffee, black with no sugar or cream, before answering: "I was thinking that we start with the medical coroner first, see if there's a biochemical connection shared among the victims. So what'd you think? FBI, CIA or Department of Health?"

Dean smiled.

"Hello, I'm Special Agent Dean Chase of the Federal Bureau of Investigations; this is my partner, Special Agent Samuel Murdoch." said Dean flashing the fake FBI identification to the coroner, a very fine looking young lad who was blessed with a statuesque physique, full luscious red lips, amber brown hair and porcelain skin which seemed to glow in the dim fluorescent light of her cramped up office.

The gorgeous brunette looked up and smiled. "Now why would the Federal Bureau of Investigations be interested in a few men who died in their sleep?" asked the Doctor raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well we have reason to believe that they were poisoned." said Sam as he and Dean sat down, Sam took note of the nametag on the woman's desk: _Dr. Beatrice Sinclair MD. _"Did the toxicology reports reveal any possible abnormalities in the blood of the victims?"

"Well there was one thing that was a little off." Said Beatrice, "every one of the victims had an alarmingly low amount of testosterone present within their body."

"And that means…" asked Dean, biology wasn't exactly his strong suit.

"Well, with those levels of levels of testosterone, they may have as well have been four year-old boys instead of men." answered Beatrice while crossing her legs, giving the boys a view of her shapely pale legs which were accented by her black pantyhose.

Dean snuck a quick peep at her fine legs before returning his attention to the situation at hand.

Beatrice reached into her pocket, pulled out a card. "If you guys have any other questions, feel free to call me."

Dean picked up the card.

"About anything." She said hungrily licking her lips. Sam felt a shudder of disgust go through his spine, clearly subtlety was not lost among this one.

"Well, Dr. Sinclair, thank you for everything." Said Dean straightening out his suit as he and Sam got up to leave. "I'll think about that phone call."

"So you gonna call her?" asked Sam as the two walked through the hallway of the police station.

"Are you kiddin? A broad like that is what I like to call a man eater, she'd probably chew me up spit me back out only to chew me up again." Replied Dean with a laugh, "any idea on what we're dealing with here?"

"Off the top of my head? Nothing" said Sam, "Vampire and werewolf victims both leave telltale signs of attacks. I'm pretty sure that we're gonna need Bobby's help on this one, or I could always call Ruby."

"No, we're not calling her."

"Calling who?" asked a familiar figure leaning against the hood of the impala. The two brothers recognized the figure almost immediately, a petite body type standing at 5'2" coupled with shoulder long chocolate colored hair, tan skin and a smirk which was plastered all over her face.

"Speak of the devil." Muttered Dean.

"Ruby." said Sam, a smile on his face, acknowledging her presence, unlike his older brother.

"Sam," said Ruby replying with a smile of her own before turning to acknowledge Dean. "Short stack."

"What do you want Ruby?" asked Dean, despite his younger brother's bizarre relationship with the demon, and the fact that she had saved his life numerous times, he couldn't bring himself to trust her. Every single one of his instincts screamed for him to plunge the knife into her chest and end her life right there and then. But for the sake of his younger brother, he didn't…for now. What worried him more was the exact nature of the relationship between his younger brother and the demon. As a hunter there should have been only one real relationship: the one which ends with Sam exorcising the bitch and sending her off to hell.

Ruby uncrossed her arms as she got off the Impala. "That job, you guys are looking into, drop it."

"Excuse me?" asked Sam.

"You have no idea what you're up against." Replied Ruby, "This thing…I've never seen anything like this thing before."

"Nothing we can't handle…" Said Dean, "Now why don't you get the hell out of my sight before I deport your ass back to hell."

"First of all, you're not even a qualified enough hunter to deport my clipped toenail back to hell. And secondly, you can't handle this thing…it's probably the last one of its kind and insanely powerful." Snapped Ruby, "It'll kick your ass, five ways until Sunday, way worse than the beating I gave you the last time we had an argument."

Dean felt a cold snap go through his head as he lost control of his body and proceeded to deck Ruby with a strong right hook followed by a strong uppercut to her gut. "DEAN!" yelled Sam as he placed himself in between the two conflicting forces desperately attempting to separate his brother from his demon girlfriend of sorts. Dean shrugged off his brother as he quickly reached into his pocket for the demon killing knife he had stolen from her months ago. "Dean! No!" yelled Sam as he smashed his fist into Dean's jaw in a desperate way to calm him down. After all violence was the one thing that Dean knew best.

Dean stumbled back, shocked at what had just transpired. "Sam….what the hell do you think you're doing?" growled Dean, a small red mark was beginning to form on the spot where Sam's fist had connected.

"You attacked her for no reason." Snapped Sam.

"She's a demon Sam, we're hunters, it's our job to kill things like her." Said Dean venomously,

"No, our job is to save people and hunt evil. Not every demon or nonhuman out there. She's not evil." Replied Sam, the conversation had gotten stale, he already knew what his brother was going to say next. He could probably recite the exact words.

"Why do you trust her so much Sam?"

"I've already told you why." Snarled Sam, he showed no signs of relenting. Clearly he was about to simply stand aside and let his brother kill Ruby without a fight. This act alone raised dozens of questions about the true nature of their relationship.

"Why, because she saved you?! That reason you gave me isn't even close to good enough." Snarled Dean, his eyes searching for an opening in Sam's defense, all he needed was one good stab. One good stab was all he needed, one stab to end her miserable excuse of a life. "What's going on, Sam?" he asked in a quiet tone of voice. "Are you in love with her?"

"Dean…"

"Right now… I can't trust you as long as you trust her." said Dean as he turned to leave a stunned Sam behind. He could not trust Sam, not at this moment. Not with the apocalypse looming closer and closer with each passing day. This Sam who openly used his supernatural powers in the name of the greater good, no this was not his brother. Just a shadow of the man his brother used to be.

Sam watched in morose silence as his brother walked away. Dean just didn't understand his mindset. How could he? He had left him, he had left him with the burden of bearing the cursed cross that his family had carried for two generations, with the knowledge and guilt that he was responsible for his brother's death. How could he possibly understand the blood that ran through his veins? Black, evil and corrupting blood which poisoned and corroded the very body that housed its accursed presence. The blood of that yellowed-eyed sonuva bitch who had destroyed his entire life in an instant. The blood of demons.

Then Ruby came along. She had literally gone through hell, risked body and soul to rescue him from the prison of despair he had created for himself. She had given him a purpose and control of his life. She had given him meaning. She had saved him.

Surely_ he_ of all people could understand being saved.

"Wanna go grab a burger?" asked Ruby as she wiped the blood off of her chin, her words pulling Sam's thoughts back to the present situation.

"Are you serious?" asked Sam raising an eyebrow. She was being far too casual about this.

"Well I am pretty hungry and Dean just need some time to cool off. Don't worry he'll be back." Reassured Ruby as she placed a hand on Sam's arm in an attempt to reassure him. "C'mon, I could go for some French fries."

"Yeah, sure I could eat." Said Sam as he followed Ruby to her car, knowing Dean he would come back for the Impala at a later time.

Across town a little boy was playing with his favorite toy airplane, happily playing around the house with the airplane high above his head while making several "vroom vroom" sounds as he ran through the house. His joyful run came to a sudden halt when he noticed that the door of a particular room had been left open. The young boy hesitated before he ran in.

"Daddy! Daddy!" screeches the boy as he ran up to the bed that his father was sleeping on.

The boy failed to notice the emptiness in his father's eyes, as he nudged him several times begging him to play.

"Daddy?" asks the boy curiously. "Wake up, Daddy. Wake up."

Dean laid on the lumpy bed belonging to the crappy motel that he had chosen to stay at for the night, thoughts of the last three months swimming through his head like fish in a massive aquarium. He didn't believe for a second that Ruby's actions were of a noble intention. He could see the effect that she had on him, the way he acted whenever she was around him. She was corrupting him, was Sam so blind that he couldn't see that? Oh yeah that's right. She had "saved" him.

With her "body."

Yet despite his mistrust of her, she had done nothing to warrant his attitude towards her. She had willing placed herself in the hands of Alistair in order to help them. He had seen the cuts and gashes that Alistair had inflicted upon her, but most importantly he had seen the way Sam had carried her back to the motel, the way he carefully bandaged her wounds, the way he would tenderly move a lock of her chocolate brown hair behind her hair, but most importantly he saw the way he looked at her. He saw the vulnerability, the worry, the compassion. A hunter showing a demon any sort of compassion was probably the worst sin any hunter could possibly commit.

The motel door creaked open letting in a cold breeze which sent shivers up Dean's spine. His eyes didn't bother to open, he knew that it was Sam back to apologize and try to make things right. The door slowly closed as Dean felt steps begin to move to the bed that he was currently sleeping on. 'That's weird, since when did Sam's footsteps get so soft?' thought Dean as the footsteps got closer and closer to the bed.

"Sam?"

"Hardly." Replied a familiar female voice, one he hadn't heard in months. One that he recognized instantly all thanks to her accent. Her British Accent.

'It can't be…' thought Dean as he opened his eyes to find her half naked form approaching him.

"Tell me Dean, do you remember all those months we spent in together hell?" she asked as she crawled over him, her warm breath sending shivers down his spine with each puff, her long amber hair beginning to pool around him on his chest as she leaned down to kiss his shoulder. "The unforgivable things you would do to me during the day, and at night the ways you would…." A shudder ran through her body before escaping through her mouth as the memory overtook her body. "….take me…"

"Bela…" muttered Dean through strained teeth as Bela began to kiss her way up his neck, the softness of her lips coupled with the warmth of her breath sent tingles down his spine. Her scent was beginning to overwhelm him, a mixture of burnt brimstone and jasmine flowers which crept into his nostrils and flooded his mind. Her hands were slowly running their way under his shirt.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me you've forgotten about our time spent in damnation?" she asked sensually before hungrily nibbling on his earlobe. "I haven't."

"Bela…"

"The spikes, the nails, the needles, the fire and the knives, you always did love the knives didn't you, darling?" continued the British Harlot as she slowly made her way up to his lips. "The ways I begged for you to stop, to forgive me."

By now her lips were inches away from his, her scent was overpowering him. Her words evoking forbidden memories that he had long repressed, memories of his past sins. "Bela, what are you doing here?" he managed to mutter through much use of willpower.

Bela's face darkened as her hand firmly gripped his chin tightly forcing him to look at her as she sat up and straddled him. "What's wrong? You honestly didn't think that you're the only one who can escape from hell do you?" she snarled revealing the blackness in her eyes. "Yet, you were the only one who was saved by His grace weren't you? Out of the trillions suffering in hell, you were the only one who was forgiven."

Her grip tightened. "What makes you so special?!" continued Bela, by now her face was just a mere inch away from his, the familiar scent of burnt flesh, brimstone and her unique scent of jasmine flowers intoxicating him in a way no drug could ever hope to match. "Your sins are so much greater than mine, than all of ours! What makes you so worth saving?!"

Dean struggled as unwanted memories flooded back into his head, the ones that he tortured, maimed and killed. He wasn't a hero, he didn't suffer righteously like he had expected himself to. He had given in to the darkness and allowed himself to become a monster.

He had been tainted.

"Nothing."

Bela smiled sweetly, a smile that she only ever showed him after their fuck sessions in Hell, before she leaned down to kiss him and Dean could feel himself slip back into the darkness he thought he had long escaped from.

A/N: Alright folks, my first multichapter fic. Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. I want to stress that this is not a Dean/Bela fic, although there are mentions of a relationship that they had in hell. I want this fic to be more like a standalone episode where a lot about the relationship between Sam and Dean as well as Sam and Ruby will be explored.

I did watch Lucifer Rising, and I was a little pissed at the sudden change in Ruby's character, especially considering her immense desire to remain neutral in the conflict (I know what you did last summer & Hell's Angels) as well as her past deeds in helping Sam. (see season 3) Furthermore her endgame did not make sense especially considering that she helped resurrect the Colt, a gun perfectly capable of killing Lilith before she even began to break the seals and her willingness to sacrifice herself in order to save the boys from Lilith's forces (Jus in Bello).

I guess this fic will follow my own personal Canon, as I have been planning to write a fic depicting Ruby's past for a while now. The ideas are swimming in my head and I just need to find the time in between essays, midterms, finals, work, and my martial arts training in order to plan out and write it.

Reviews are greatly appreciated as I always look forward to constructive criticism.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Not Mine

Nightmares

Chapter 2: Better Halves

Ruby gasped with exquisite ecstasy as she collapsed onto the bed snuggling up next to Sam as he pulled her close and covered her naked upper half with the bed's blanket. Their sweat covered bodies told more about their actions than any words could have ever hoped. Ruby slowly wrapped her right arm around Sam's waist in a possessive manner as she moved her head over to its favorite resting spot: on top of Sam's bare chest. Despite the look of contentment plastered on his face, Sam couldn't help but wonder just how long these rare moments of peace and serenity would last. Armageddon loomed closer and closer with each broken seal. How many seals were left standing, thirty? Twenty? Ten? He looked down at Ruby who had fallen asleep soundly on his chest and couldn't help but be reminded of a simpler past. A past, where he had a normal life, ambitions, dreams, friends and a girlfriend, all of which were taken from him in a single night by a single person. Yet, even now as he looked down at her sleeping form purring softly with contentment as she dreamt, he could not help but wonder where this was all going to lead him. A soft coo of affection escaped from Ruby's lips as she softly tugged herself closer to Sam's body calmed his worries. Despite her dark origins, with her chocolate brown hair fanned out all over his chest and her lips folded softly into a gentle smile, she looked like an angel lying there in his arms. Looking down at her, Sam couldn't help but smile as the worries of the future escaped his mind for a single moment.

The fatigue was now beginning to take its tow and the sex that he had just had five minutes prior certainly was not helping. Sam could feel his eyelids growing heavier with each passing second as he cautiously placed his arm over Ruby's cuddling figure, careful not to wake her in the process, and pulled her closer him as he succumbed to his body's urge to sleep and felt himself drift off.

As the two slept, a soft wind seemingly blew through the closed windows making the curtains dance as the wind made its way through the motel room. The wind circled around the room a few times before making its way towards Sam, its intentions for him unknown. The wind rushed hurriedly towards Sam. Ruby's eyes snapped open revealing the deadly blackness within them stopping the wind in its tracks with her stone cold glare. Seeing the angered look on Ruby's face, the wind relented and quickly fled in terror. Ruby smiled mischievously as she silently watched the wind quickly escape. "And don't come back bitch." She murmured softly before snuggling closer to Sam and going back to sleep.

Morning was signaled by the radiant sunlight peeking through the gaps created by the space in between the window blinds shining in on Dean's eye as he woke from his tumultuous night of passion. He rolled over to check up on his sleeping companion, Bela, only to find nothing. Confused he quickly felt around, realizing there was nothing there Dean's eyes snapped open in alarm. He raised an eyebrow as he quickly scanned the room, Bela was known for her thievery and the first thing that came to his mind was whether or not she managed to steal anything of remote value. A long thorough search of the room revealed no evidence of stolen items. That was when Dean realized that the bed displayed no telltale signs of the passionate sex he had had the night before. Only one pillow which showed no telltale signs, such as creases and head imprints, of being slept on, of being used. The blanket was completely bunched to one side and the other side of the bed had no imprint in the mattress. Impossible. Bela was good, but nobody was good enough to have sex with someone, escape the bed they shared and make the bed for no real purpose other than for the sole reason of inflicting havoc upon a person's psyche. Bela was a thief, but she wasn't sadistic, not even hell could have warped her into such a coldhearted being.

Not even he could have dragged her soul into such darkness.

Hunger and fatigue rumbled through Dean's body as his eyes scanned the room desperately looking for any clue of Bela's actions. Her fragrance still lingered in the room mixing in with the motel's mothball like smell. He could still _taste _her on his lips. The sound of his cellphone ringing brought Dean's back to the present. It was Bobby.

"Yeah Bobby?"

"Hey boy, I did the research like you asked about this demon that kills people in their sleep." Said Bobby on the other line, at the moment he was busy reassembling a gun.

"Alright, good to know." Replied Dean, "so what're we dealing with here?"

"Well, I don't have an exact English name for this thing. But I'm pretty sure we're dealing with a being the ancient Babylonians called the Saico Faangurl."

"A Saico Faangurl?"

"Yeah, a monster, usually female, which tends to find one or two individuals of the opposite sex and then stalks them until one or both of them are dead." continued Bobby, as he slowly inserted a iron bullet into the barrel of the pistol, a special bullet designed to harm or even kill demons. Blessed iron dipped in holy water and lined with salt, to a demon it may as well have been a miniature cannon.

"So how do we find and kill this thing?"

"That's gonna need a few more hours of research on my part." Replied Bobby nonchalantly, " According to every text I've read so far, Saico Faangurls can't be killed by any conventional methods: iron, rock salt bullets, holy water and even flames have no major lasting effects."

"Well we've gotta come up with something." Replied Dean, "else this thing will keep killing people."

"There's something else." Said Bobby.

"Crap…"

"Yeah that's about the right reaction. Saico Faangurls only attack their victims through their dreams. They hijack their dreams and twist their personalities to their liking for roughly a week before the victim succumbs to their manipulations and dies."

"So we'll use some dream root, kill it in the dream world."

"No can do."

"What?"

"Apparently the only way to kill a Saico Faangurl is in the real world." Said Bobby as he flipped through the pages of the ancient textbook, "And it needs to be killed by a specific type of weapon, I'm still working on that last part so I'm gonna have to get back to you on that." Said Bobby, by now the gun was complete. All he needed now was a test subject. Maybe it was time for him to join the boys in a quick hunt; after all, the gun needs a test subject.

"Alright, thanks Bobby." Said Dean as he hung up the cellphone. Dean's ears perked up as the powerful sounds of fingers being banged against wood filled the room.

Dean opened the door to find Sam standing there with a folded newspaper in his hands. "Read today's newspaper yet?" asked Sam as he handed the softly wrinkled periodical over to his older brother.

Dean raised a slightly annoyed eyebrow as he read through the circled article entitled: _"Another Victim of Sleep Death; No Foul Play Suspected."_ "Looks like another one huh?" said Dean, before folding up the newspaper and looking at his brother. "So what now?"

"What do you mean what now?" asked Sam raising a judgmental eyebrow. "We find out whatever the hell this thing is, and we kill it."

Dean scratched the back of his head in frustration. Truth be told he still couldn't trust Sam, especially not with the way things were now. But he was glad that Sam was at least trying to make amends and attempt to repair the shaky bridge that was their relationship. "Alright then, so where do we start looking?"

"I figure another visit to the medical coroner's office." Replied Sam before he noticed Dean's appearance, he looked as if he hadn't slept in days. Dark saggy bags had formed under his eyes and his 5'o'clock shadow was beginning to show at 8am. "You look a little tired, are you ok?"

Dean coughed. "I just need a quick shower and some breakfast." he said quickly, brushing the question away and praying to whomever was willing to listen that Sam wouldn't be able to smell Bela all over him as he walked back into the hotel room to take a shower. Sam quietly followed suit.

"Hey, why does the room smell of musk?" asked Sam as he closed the door.

Ruby laid on the bed stirring softly as she straddled the lines between the world of sleep and the world of consciousness. Right now the world of sleep was looking a lot more appealing than the world of consciousness. A weight pressing down on the bed brought Ruby back to the real world. "Mmmmmm, Sam?" asked Ruby softly as she rubbed her eyes she could have sworn that he had left to go check up on Dean, how he was going to find him, she had no idea.

"No." Answered a cold menacing voice.

Ruby's eyes snapped open as she sat up and covered herself with the bed's blanket. Shit. Where the hell was her knife? As if that knife would have any effect on an angel. How the hell did he find her, she had up more cloaking spells than Osama Bin Laden. Nothing should have been able to find her.

"Hello Ruby." Said Castiel, looking over down upon her, his eyes filled with a chilling emptiness which inflicted her with a fear which froze the very depths of her soul and rendered her immobile. The way these angels followed orders and slaughtered entire towns without mercy or remorse seemed terrifying to her.

After a moment of tension, Ruby spoke. "Have you come to kill me?" she asked with a smirk on her face.

"Perhaps. Doing so would put my mind at ease." Replied Castiel nonchalantly.

"A demon sleeping with a human, that's gotta violate some law of nature set by God." Remarked Ruby as she felt around for her bra. To be topless around an angel… "I suppose the higher ups have sent you to smite me before I can do anything. Smite first, ask questions later, figures that's how Heaven operates."

"You're not a demon." replied Castiel, his words shook Ruby's very core. She surely wasn't human, and what she had endured in hell had left her with a blackness in her soul which compelled her towards evil. Yet here she was, doing everything in her power to _prevent_ Armageddon. Risking body and soul in order to help the other side.

"What are you talking about?" asked Ruby cautiously.

"Demons are born when human souls are burned and twisted by the beings of hell." Answered Castiel as he got off the bed and began to pace around the room. "Their souls possess a dark emptiness which they fill with death and carnage."

Castiel stopped his pacing and closed his eyes almost as if he was deep in thought. "When I glimpsed into the depths of your soul, I saw…….a light."

"A light?" echoed Ruby raising an eyebrow as she thankfully found her bra. Last thing she wanted to be was topless in front of an angel of the Lord.

"Your soul carries a light amongst the dark void that formed from your time stayed in hell." continued Castiel as he turned to face Ruby who had just finished putting on her bra. He debated, killing her at this point would make things a lot easier, but she could still be of great help to Heaven. And for now, she served her role of helping Sam control the demonic powers sleeping within him, those powers would be critical for future battles. Castiel felt a pang of sympathy go through his body as he saw her face light up with hope and a bit of confusion. Even after over a millennia of observing humans from Heaven, their potential for both good and evil never ceased to amaze him. "This light, whatever it may be, has prevented the total corruption of your soul. Yet the darkness means that that you aren't human either. You are something completely different."

"So what does this all mean?" asked Ruby growing more and more worried. If she wasn't a demon and if she wasn't human, then what the hell was she? A hybrid? No that was stupid. "So then, what exactly am I?" asked Ruby turning to face Castiel, only to find him gone.

"Great…" muttered Ruby as she fell back onto the bed. Great, as if things weren't bad enough.

Dean dug into the waffles laid out in front of him. Hungry. That was one way to put describe his state. Tired was another. He couldn't remember the last time he was this tired, especially after sex. Usually all it took was a quick nap and he was back up on his feet. "Must be getting old." Muttered Dean in between mouthfuls of waffles and coffee.

"What was that?" asked Sam, as he took a sip of his morning coffee. Black, with lots of cream.

"Nothing." Said Dean. "So how do we find this thing?"

Sam pulled a gas station map out of his pocket. Dean peered over and saw several areas circled with a red pen. "So I did some research, read a few newspaper articles and police reports."

"Yeah, and?"

"I've managed to triangulate these killings." Replied Sam, pointing a general area, "I'd say that whatever this thing is…" Sam pointed to a larger red circle. "It's operating in roughly this area."

Dean took another bite of his waffles. "I talked to Bobby. He says we may be dealing with a Saico Faangurl."

"Saico Faangurl?" echoed Sam, "Never heard of them."

"Yeah, apparently they're some sort of dream demon." Replied Dean, "They attack people in their dreams for about a week before they kill them."

"Well, with this newest guy dead, I'm guessing that we've got a week before it kills another one." Said Sam, as he took another sip of coffee, "What'dyou say we find this thing and kill it?"

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Said Dean his voice sounding tired and croaky, man sex with Bela outside of hell was taxing. "Saico Faangurls can only be killed a certain way. Bobby is still trying to figure out how to kill this thing."

Sam took a sip of his coffee. "Well…we could try cutting off its head." he said with a grin.

A/N: Well Chapter 2 opens up hundreds of doors for both this story and future stories as well as adds mystery to the overall story. Hope you guys enjoyed it and tell me what you guys think of these new developments.

Reviews are always welcome, I look forward to constructive criticism.


	3. Chapter 3

Nightmares

Chapter 3: True Reality

Despite having dealt with so many dead bodies growing up, Sam still had difficulty spending time in morgues. The stench of scentless sterility mixed in blood and guts tended to wreak havoc upon Sam's senses. Even after salting and burning so many corpses, Sam still had trouble seeing a newly dead body. This new victim still looked somewhat alive, his skin was still slightly tanned and his hair was still somewhat lush and filled with life. Yet that didn't make things easier. Sam had experienced far too many deaths close to him: his mother and Jessica were killed by the Yellowed Eyed Demon. His father had died of a mysterious "heart attack", even his own brother, brutally torn to shreds by a pack of hellhounds before his very eyes.

In his lifetime, he had helplessly watched his entire family die before his very eyes.

The current morgue was no different from the rest, sterile white walls and white tiled linoleum floors which seemed to accentuate the soulless atmosphere of the room. The Saico Faangurl's newest victim was laid atop of a metal examination table surrounded by several examination tools. The poor bastard was probably gonna be cut open so his organs could be examined in order to determine cause of death. Hopefully the coroner would be able to do a decent enough job to fit the guy into a tux so his family could have an open casket wake.

Dean carefully examined the dead guy looking for any telltale signs that may have lead to the poor sap's untimely demise or any clues that could lead them back to the Saico Faangurl. From the look of frustration on Dean's face he couldn't find any clues.

"So find anything?" asked Sam with his hands tucked into his pockets.

"Nope." Replied Dean, "But I'm not the guy you'd look for to examine these poor chum-"

"Detective Chase? Detective Murdoch?" asked a familiar female voice. The boys turned their heads towards the sound's origin. Standing at the door raising a quizzical eyebrow was none other than Dr. Sinclair. The good doctor put one hand on her hip wrinkling her blue apron a little in the process before she lifted her examination goggles to her forehead. "What the hell are you guys doing here?"

Dean and Sam took a quick look at each other before Dean answered. "Well, since there's a new victim, I figured that we might as well take a look at the body before they bury it."

"Well since I haven't done a full autopsy yet, so anything we know we know from our initial assessments of the body." Stated Dr. Sinclair, "Why don't you guys come back in a few hours after I finish my examination?" The young lady looked towards the door.

"Alright, well if you find anything, you give us a call." Said Dean as he and Sam headed for the door.

"Geez, talk about territorial." Muttered Sam as they exited the morgue and headed upstairs.

"So what do we do now?" asked Dean, as the two approached the elevators.

Sam shrugged. "Dunno." He said nonchalantly as he pressed the button to summon the elevator. "We could always try asking the deceased's wife, see if the guy exhibited any bizarre behaviors or change in routine recently before he died."

"Crap…" muttered Dean, "I was afraid you'd say that." Talking to the victim's family never made things easier for Dean, Sam was the compassionate one of the team. Dean, on the other hand, preferred to find whatever the hell was responsible for all these murders and put it out of its misery. No mess, no need to get emotionally involved with the victim.

"Part of the job." Stated Sam, matter of fact as the two entered the elevator.

****

Castiel still had trouble understanding humans, even after three thousand years of watching humans from heaven. They carried within them, the potential for both great good and evil. He was never given such a choice. He was taught to follow orders, no matter what the consequence, no matter how many people were hurt or even killed. Castiel lifted his head to the sky and felt the sunlight stream on to the body of his human host allowing himself to feel the warmth of the magnificent sun.

Such pleasure was bestowed only upon a small number of angels and was appreciated by even fewer humans.

"Castiel." Said a deep imposing voice, which sounded like it could and would burn a baby, Castiel reorganized his thoughts, he couldn't afford to show weakness or disdain in front of Uriel, in front of _anyone_.

"Uriel." Replied Castiel acknowledging the presence of his partner, while Castiel didn't approve of Uriel's blasphemous attitude towards humans, he was glad to have such a powerful force of nature watching his back. "We have just gotten word of Hell's activities."

"And?" asked Uriel showing no signs of emotion sounding as intimidating as ever.

"Several movements have been made to expand the size and transportation capacity of a Devil's Gate located in New Jersey. We believe it is in order to allow a high level demon to pass through to Earth." continued Castiel as he turned to face his partner. Even now, Castiel was perplexed by the vessel that Uriel had chosen to inhabit, an African American man with a large powerful build and angry eyes which seemed to fit Uriel's destructive level of power. A strange act considering the body once belonged to a devout African missionary. "We have reason to believe that a powerful demon, one of Lilith and Alistair's class is coming to Earth."

Uriel smirked; a smile did not fit a being as dangerous as him. "Let him, we will crush him like we have crushed the rest."

****

"So Mrs. Bergman, did your husband exhibit any abnormal behavior during the last few days?" asked Sam as he laid an empathetic hand upon the shoulder of the deceased's wife.

The newly widowed Mrs. Bergman turned to look at Sam, she bore a face that many would consider to be beautiful if it wasn't twisted in such a pained expression. At the moment, the widow was a mess of tears and sobs. "He seemed tired and distant…but what does this have to do with his death?!"

Dean took a deep breath before answering, this was probably one of the hardest parts of the job, "We don't know but often the coroner has reason to believe that his death may have been due to neuronal properties." He replied in as sympathetic of a voice as possible, "Could you possibly tell us when this behavior began?"

Mrs. Bergman sobbed a few times before she answered: "About a week ago." Dean gave Sam a look, Sam responded with a nod. Confirmation, another victim, this confirms the relative location of the attacks. Roughly seven deaths, this one makes eight, in the last seven months all within a roughly 7 mile radius in a small gated community. Such an isolated place was an ideal hunting ground for any hungry monster that needed putting down.

The only trick now was to find it and kill it.

"Well thank you for everything, Mrs. Bergman." Said Sam as he hastily shoved his notepad in his inside pocket. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom?"

Mrs. Bergman gave Sam a look before pointing towards her hallway. Sam left.

Dean took a quick look around the living room, a typical living room, a few pieces of furniture here and there. A vase filled with water halfway to the top housing a couple of yellow roses. "Those roses are interesting. I don't think I've ever seen them before." Commented Dean pointing to the vase.

"Huh? Oh right, my husband brought them home." Replied Mrs. Bergman

Something in Dean's mind clicked. Perhaps it was his sleuth abilities kicking in or maybe it was all the hunter training that his father had given him over the years. Look for anything out of the ordinary. "Those flowers don't seem to be native to this area." Remarked Dean

Ms. Bergman looked towards the direction that Dean was facing. "Yeah, the florist said that they're native to Mesopotamia."

"Can you guys possibly give us the address to the Florist?" asked Dean

****

The faucet cool water felt nice as it ran over Sam's hands. Despite her recent loss, Sam couldn't help but admire the fine house that the happy family once shared. The current bathroom that Sam was in was probably large enough to house the motel rooms that he and Dean usually stayed in. 'Hope she had a life insurance policy on her husband' thought Sam.

"Hello Sam."

It was Castiel, "Holy crap, you angels have to stop appearing like that!"said Sam, his hand had reflexively reached for his Beretta, had Castiel's voice not sound so familiar, he would have likely put a hole in his head. "Something I can help you with?"

Castiel shook his head. "I've come…to talk?"

"Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of Dean as well."

"You're sleeping with Ruby." Stated Castiel matter-of-factly.

"Doesn't seem to be hurting anyone."

"You're using the abilities that Azazel has bestowed upon you. It is…unnatural."

Sam smirked, typical angel talk. "And you want me to stop."

Castiel nodded as he watched Sam reach for a towel to dry his hands. "The human body is not meant to house demon blood." He stated, "If you continue to use your abilities, they will eventually burn through your body andd devour you."

Sam stared, his expression slowly turning to one of slight worry and concern.

"In the future, you will have to make a difficult decision between yourself and your brother." Continued Castiel pacing back and forth, the tails of his trenchcoat fluttering left and right with each step he took. "You are at a crossroads, whichever path you take will affect your future and the future of those around you."

"Are you here to tell me the right choice?" asked Sam

Castiel shook his head. "My father bestowed upon your people, the power of free will, you are allowed to make your own decisions in life and are capable of both great good and great evil. Whichever path you may take, the choice is entirely up to you."

A knock on the bathroom door disturbed Sam's thought flow.

"Detective Murdoch? Your partner says you guys have another lead you need to check out." said Mrs. Berman outside of the bathroom.

"Alright, tell him I'll be out in a minute." Replied Sam, he turned to face Castiel only to find that he had departed for places unknown. "Great…"

****

The town was surprisingly empty for a Saturday. It was afternoon, yet the sun had hidden itself behind a herd of clouds and the winds were present making it a chillingly cold day and Ruby was definitely glad that she had her leather jacket on her. A group of kids ran past Ruby as she shivered from the wind. Even after two stays in hell, she still rarely felt warm. Instead even the fires of damnation felt cold to her, she had only ever felt warm around one person. Ruby closed her eyes and took a breath of air allowing herself to taste the fresh moisture in the air mixed in with nearby flowers and a hint of air pollution. The town was quiet, too quiet for a day like this. She should have been on her guard, she should have been more careful, but for now she allowed a wave of serenity to wash over her body.

"Hello, Ruby." Said a soft female voice breaking the silence and sending her back into defensive mode.

It _couldn't _be.

Ruby turned to face her, a head full of dark crimson hair, fair porcelain skin that seemed to shine softly in the shade of buildings, a heart shaped face and kind green eyes. "Anna." She said softly, great another angel, no point in preparing to fight there was no way she could win even if she did. She seriously needed to find some better cloaking spells, if angels could find her, then so could a high level demon, one of Lilith or even Alister's caliber.

"We need to talk." She said.

Great, another talk with an angel, what now? Were they going to tell her that she was also part leprechaun?

"Why don't we do this over coffee." Said Ruby.

****

Ruby wasn't alive when coffee became the most popular beverage on the planet, she wasn't even alive when tobacco began to make its way across Europe. So she was still learning to enjoy the drink, this was probably only the third time that she had had coffee. Ruby looked down at her coffee, a steaming cup of black liquid accompanied by a strong almost overpowering scent, brewed by a scowling waitress in a cheap diner with only the cheapest beans possible. Maybe she should have gone with tea. "So I see that you're still in your original body."

Anna nodded. "Well this body was originally mine, so there was really no need for me to inhabit a new one."

"Anna isn't your real name is it?" asked Ruby as she took a sip of her coffee, hot, bitter and difficult to swallow.

Anna shook her head, "no, I was given the name Anachel by my Father. But please, just call me Anna."

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" asked Ruby as she reached for a packet of sugar. Hopefully that would help with the taste.

Anna took a sip of her hot chocolate. An angel drinking hot chocolate, go figure. "It's about your soul."

"I've already been told." Replied Ruby, as she added some cream to her coffee before mixing it turning the black liquid brown. "Something about there being a light?"

Anna nodded. "You do know what this means don't you?"

Ruby shook her head. "That I'm neither a demon nor a human?"

"Something like that." Replied Anna, "I'd say it has something to do with your memories of your time as a human."

"My memories?" echoed Ruby, sure she remembered how it was like to be human, before all the torture and agony of hell, but she didn't exactly remember her life.

Anna reached and placed her two fingers to Ruby's temple as she closed her eyes. Ruby raised a quizzical eyebrow. This was new. "This might tickle a bit." She said.

Ruby closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she felt a strange tingling in the back of her head. The tingling slowly grew stronger as it surged through the very depths and innards of her brain. Then it was like a movie playing in her head, Ruby felt her eyes roll to the back of her head, as her memories began to flash before her eyes, images of her childhood, her family and friends, every aspect of her life playing back for her like a kaleidoscope of forgotten memories. _His_ face, she could remember his face. She remembered her name.

She remembered _everything. _

"So now you remember everything." Said Anna, as she softly removed her fingers from Ruby's temple.

Ruby felt tears come up in her eyes, her breath gone from her chest, her heart beating in her chest like a war drum and her head pounding from the memories.

"You even remember your true name don't you, Cons-"

"Don't call me that!" interrupted Ruby angrily. "My name is Ruby." She was angry, rightfully so. She had cast away her memories during her time in Hell for a good reason. Remembering her painful past now would only bring unnecessary pain to the surface.

Anna nodded understandingly. "I should go." She said softly, "When you're ready to forgive yourself and continue this talk. Just call and I'll come."

With that the angel left 2.25 on the table leaving Ruby to stew in her thoughts and memories.

****

Dean took a deep breath as he sat in the driver's seat of the Impala, he was tired, far too tired to be doing crap like this right now. But alas, duty called and him being a hunter answered it in full stride. Bela, wherever the hell she may have been, was still plaguing his mind like a tumor that just wouldn't die. "Bela…where the hell are you?" muttered Dean in frustration.

"Miss me already do you darling?" _Shit. _It couldn't be. Soft female arms firmly wrapped themselves around him from the back of the seat as the scent of Jasmines filled the cramped seat of the Impala. Crap. Soft waves of amber hair gently cascaded themselves onto his shoulder as Bela leaned over to kiss his neck. "If you missed me so much? Why didn't you ask me to stay?"

Dean was quiet, biting his tongue firmly as Bela continued to kiss her way up his neck, allowing the firm prickly points of Dean's aftershave to tickle her nose as she nibbled and sucked on his neck. "Bela." He muttered through strained teeth. "What are you doing here?!" How the hell did she get in the back of his car without him knowing?!

"Don't worry about the details darling." Whispered Bela into his ear. "I'm here aren't I? That's all that matters isn't it?"

She was right, she was here and that's all that matte-

_DEAN! _

Dean turned to the source of the sound snapping him back to reality, Sam was staring at him quizzically from outside the car. "Sammy?" asked Dean.

"Dean, what the hell's going?" asked Sam as he opened the car door and got in.

"Bela…"

"Dean, Bela's dead." Replied Sam

"No, she's in the backseat…."

Sam looked in the back. "Dean there's no one there."

A/N: Another month, another chapter, hope you guys enjoyed it. So people have asked me before, just what draws me to the Sam/Ruby pairing. Well I'd have to say because the two are so damaged, especially during my next story where I reveal details of Ruby's past.

Reviews are greatly appreciated as I always look forward to constructive criticism and it's motivation for me to write more.


	4. Chapter 4

Nightmares

Chapter 4: Guilty Illusions

Sam stared at Dean, his eyes were bloodshot and surrounded by dark rings, his sandy brown hair was a mess, and judging from the large amount of peach fuzz all over his face he looked like he hadn't bothered to shave in days. It was very possible that Dean had finally gone over the deep end. Time spent in hell being tortured and then torturing others would no doubt have a detrimental effect on an individual's sanity. Of course on some level, Sam did suspect that Dean was telling the truth; after all in their line of work ANYTHING was possible. But for now, Sam was still skeptical about Dean's claims. "So…you say Bela was here…" said Sam slowly, his eyebrow was raised in a quizzical manner. Presently the two were headed to a local florist. Dean had a hunch that the types of flowers that were found at the crime scenes were somehow connected to the Saico Faangurl. Whatever it was, Sam was more than ready to cut the head off of the psycho bitch and be done with her.

Dean rolled his eyes in frustration. "Yes, I told you. She was in our backseat one minute and then she's suddenly gone the next." At the moment the two were driving through a suburban road of some sort, engines rumbling and ACDC's _Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution _was ironically blasting at a soothing a million decibels through the car's dusty old speakers. All in all, it was a typical day in the life of the Winchesters.

"Dean, if I had to guess, Bela's in hell." said Sam as he reached over to turn down the music. "Remember? She apparently made a deal with a crossroads demon."

"I know." Replied Dean looking away from Sam, his expression of shame was revealing more than he wanted Sam to know. "Trust me, I know."

"How?" asked Sam, a pause, one second it took him exactly one second to figure it out. "You didn't…"

Dean was silent. "Dean, tell me you didn't torture her in Hell." Still no reply. "_Dean!_"

"One day, Alister came up to me. Said he had a new…_plaything _for me." Said Dean, his voice was filled with self loathing and guilt, each word threatening to crack from the pain. "It was Bela. I can still remember the way she came to me; all bruised, swollen and cut up. Oh God Sammy, the things I did to her. She screamed and cried and every time I ignored her. It only made me want to keep going, to see just how far I could take it. Just how much she could take until she broke. I broke her, Sammy, I broke her will and her hope." Tears were beginning to well up in his eyes

Sam had never seen his older brother so torn up before. "Dean, it wasn't your fault."

"She even begged me to stop, you know? She apologized for all the shit that she had done to you and me when we were alive. Said she would do anything if I stopped" Said Dean his voice scruffy and torn up. "I ignored her. I just…..wanted to hear her scream."

"But Dean, shouldn't that mean that Bela's still in Hell?" asked Sam.

"Sam, you're just going to have to go with my gut on this one." Replied Dean as he debated on whether or not he should tell Sam about the _other _things he did to Bela while they were in Hell. Probably best not to, he wouldn't hear the end of it.

Sam took a deep breath of frustration. "Alright Dean, let's just pretend that you're right, let's pretend that it was Bela. That she had become a demon and somehow managed to escape from Hell, how did you know it was her?"

"Because I know how she looks like Sam, _that's _how I know." Snapped Dean. "You're just going to have to trust me on this one!"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "You mean there was something in her eyes?"

"No, I knew it was her as in it looked like her."

"You mean she was in her original body?"

Dean nodded.

"Dean, Bela sold her soul to a Crossroads Demon in exchange for killing her parents. Her contract came to deadline and the demon collected. She was dragged down to hell by Hellhounds. You and I have both seen how Hellhounds operate. Her body should be in shreds, hamburger meat, there's no way she could return it." Now Sam was worried, Dean may have been acting a little off but his memories and personality were still intact so he couldn't have been possessed. Cursing Dean with memories of Hell was pointless, especially when worse curses were available. Hexes that could make a person's teeth fall out or have their blood leak out of every pore in their body or even hexes that caused a person's flesh to slowly cook in even the coldest temperatures existed. Hallucinations seemed to be nothing compared to how vicious other curses could get. So it couldn't possibly have been a witch with a grudge.

Dean really didn't have a counter argument to that. Sam had made a good point. Even now, Dean still shuddered at the very thought of his experience of being dragged to the pit by Hellhounds. The memory still haunted him; four hellhounds, each locking their jaws onto one of his limbs, tearing through skin, flesh and bone, dragging him down to hell despite his screams of agony. His body was nothing more than jerky after the hellhounds were done with him. Bela's body should have been no different; there was no way she could return to it. "Sam, anything's possible." Dean said quietly, not believing his own words for a single second, but he knew that he was right. Something in his gut screamed that Bela had escaped the pit, that she was out and she had plans for him. Big plans.

"Whatever Dean," Replied Sam nonchalantly. "So where are we heading off to?"

"Wife of the deceased said that her husband started acting weird after he bought some weird flower from a local florist. Hopefully we can find some answers there." Said Dean, "Hopefully we can find this thing, kill it and get on with our lives. We've got bigger fish to fry."

***

After a very…enjoyable night with Sam and two very interesting talks with two very different angels, Ruby felt more lost than ever before. Yet there was no time for soul searching, she needed answers and she needed a spell to tell her what she needed to know. But in all honesty, what good would that do? Not even the angels knew what she was, neither demon nor human, what good would any spell do for her at this point. Probably better to save the materials, besides you never know when a dried rat's tail, three ginseng roots and an owl's talon would come in handy. At the moment, Ruby was trying her best to enjoy her cup of coffee, despite the long forgotten memories swimming in her head. One in particular repeated itself over and over again within the confines of her psyche refusing to quiet down and die away. She could still hear _his _words echo thorough her ears as if they were just spoken to her minutes ago.

"_Dear maiden, not even death can sever my love for you. No matter how, I shall find a way back to you. For our souls are forever joined as one" _

Like any bad memory of a long broken vow, she had forgotten his promise and she had forgotten his words, burying them as deep within her memories as she possibly could. Ruby's cellphone rang, vibrating itself within the confines of her leather jacket sending shivers through her body which brought her mind back to reality. It was Sam. "Hey Sam, what's up?" she said trying her best to keep the tumultuous state of her emotions from affecting her tone of voice.

"_Hey, I was wondering is it possible for a person to escape from hell and go back into their original body?"_ asked Sam from the other end of the line. He didn't seem to take notice.

"Depends on the state of the body, if it's just dead and not worm food then yeah it should be possible." Replied Ruby

"_What if it was torn apart by Hellhounds?"_

"Then, unless they're your brother, there's no way in hell they can return to it." Said Ruby, wondering how the Saico Faangurl case was going. "Hellhounds are viscous and savage and don't show mercy to anyone. Sam, is everything alright?"

"_I'm not sure, Dean's convinced an old 'acquaintance' of ours is back from hell." _

"You mean as a demon?"

"_Yeah, at least Dean thinks so anyways." _

Ruby took a deep breath. "OK….well if that '_acquaintance_' escaped from Hell, there's no possible way she could return to her body."

No reply on the other line, Sam was probably lost in thought. _"Thanks Ruby."_ Replied Sam from the other line, his voice sounded worried. _"Can you do me a favor?" _

"Yeah," replied Ruby, not bothering to listen to his request. Sam was a good hunter, and he had his reasons for asking for help. At this point, Ruby doubted she could even say 'no' to him. A sign of how deep her feelings for him had grown. As her thought swirled around through her head she realized that she had unwittingly, unmistakenly, and undeniably fallen in love with Samuel Winchester and until a few hours ago, she had always believed such love to be forbidden and would never come to fruition. Recent events now had her hoping for a happy ending. She would now continue to hope even when all seemed lost.

A light was still burning for her and she would continue to walk towards the light. No matter how far away it may seem.

****

"Thanks again, Ruby. I'll see you there then." Said Sam before he hung up, it was a long shot penny but it was probably the only shot that they had at finding the demon and killing it.

She was a demon and every hunter instinct within his mind screamed for him not to trust her, for him to shove a gallon of holy water down her throat or to pump her stomach full of iron and rock salt. But there was something about her that kept him from doing so, she had given him hope and a purpose. Yet she still carried an air of mystery around her. Her past, who she was when she was still human, was still kept in the dark; locked away in the deepest recesses of her heart.

He still couldn't fully trust her, just like he couldn't trust the powers which slept within his body. The apocalypse inched closer with every broken seal, he could not afford to be hesitant, to be in doubt. Yet Castiel's warning still echoed through his head, continued use of his powers would soon result in the demon blood, which surged through his body, to devour him whole. Yet how could he possibly stop Lilith without his powers, she was far too closely guarded to get close enough to use the knife. For now he would rely on the tricks and tools of the hunter trade, and he needed to be careful.

Sam took a deep breath and allowed his mind to calm itself. Dean was already inside the flower shop, probably charming his way into the pants of any available female who was willing to listen to him. He would join his brother soon enough, but for now he needed the break from the insanity that was his life.

Dark times were coming, even Sam knew that. The future was unsure.

****

If the florist was a demon, she had definitely found the best meat suit to conduct her business in. A short wrinkly old lady with ghostly white hair, wrinkly leather skin, her gray eyes carried within them a twinkle of wisdom and experience which naturally came with age. She insisted that the boys call her Inna instead of Mrs. Freedman. There was no way that she could be a demon, but then again they were wrong before. Dean scanned the room, a typical florist shop, a large variety of flowers filled the room but not the flower that Dean was looking for. "So tell me, what kind of flowers you are looking to buy for your wife?" asked Mrs. Freedman.

Dean scratched his head in frustration. There was no point in telling her that he was a FBI agent, there wasn't much evidence that pointed to her being responsible for the murders. "Well, it's a strange flower, red and looks a bit like a rose."

Mrs. Freedman took a pause. "Oh! You mean the Bloody Rose!"

"Bloody Rose?"

Mrs. Freedman nodded. "Yes, it's a seasonal flower, very rare and very beautiful. They're named for their deep red color and are supposed to be a symbol of eternal love. Unfortunately I think we're out of stock at the moment, I could always ask my assistant where we got the roses from."

Dean smiled as Sam came through the door after finishing up his phone call. "Yeah, that would be great."

"Anita!" yelled Mrs. Freedman, Anita came out after a few seconds, a young lady, couldn't have been more than 13 years old. "Do we have anymore Bloody Roses?"

"Yeah, we do." Replied Anita before she walked into the back and returned with a single red rose.

The smell drafted into Dean's nostrils, a fresh sweet innocent fragrance which carried within it a hint of sin, Jasmine flowers with the slightest whiff of brimstone, it smelled just like Bela. The sensation of invisible arms wrapped around Dean surprising him, "_What's wrong Dean?" _asked an all too familiar voice. "_Were you unable to forget me?" _

Dean could feel her fingers running up themselves up his spine. 'She's not here.' He told himself repeatedly trying to resist the sensations that were undertaking his body praying that he could keep his composure, hoping that Sam wouldn't be able

"_Silly Dean, of course I'm here darling." _ Said an all too familiar female voice with a gentle brush up his chest. _"Haven't you realized it yet? You're mine." _

'She's not here.' Thought Dean repeatedly, yet the sensations only grew stronger, her warm breath splashed itself onto his neck with every syllable she uttered.

"_Quit lying to yourself Dean."_ She whispered as she gently ran her hands up and down his hest. _"you can't escape me." _Her voice was like a gentle tingling sensation which softly danced at the back of his head, yet the other sensation which he was feeling were far too intense to be fake. She was here. _Bela _was here.

"Dean, are you ok?" asked Sam .

"If you want we can help you special order some of those roses you want."

"So can I ask what these roses are for?"

"Sam, she's here. Muttered Dean as he pulled his brother to the side.

"Who's here?" asked Sam raising a quizzical eyebrow, as far as he could tell there wasn't anyone there. Dean looked insane.

"Bela! Bela's here!" snapped Dean.

"_Oh Darling, don't be silly he can't see me." _Whispered Bela into his ear. _"Only you can." _

"Dean, there's nobody there." Said Sam, his voice sounded like a distant echo, everything sounded distorted, like sounds desperately trying to reach a drowning man. He was drowning.

"If you want we can help you special order some of those roses you want."

"So can I ask what these roses are for?"

The voices were everywhere, they were overwhelming him, and with a single, surprisingly, loud THUD, the elder Winchester collapsed onto the pinewood floor of the flower shop.

***

Sam was worried out of his mind, Dean's behavior was getting more and more erratic. It had taken him an hour to drag Dean back to the motel room before going out and getting some aspirin, beer and alcaseltzer. Sam was no doctor but hopefully that would help take the edge off of things.

He was seriously worried, so worried that he had to give Bobby a call. "Yeah Bobby, he thinks Bela's here. He's hallucinating." Said Sam, with his head and ear supporting his phone, one hand fumbling for the motel room's key and the other holding a plastic bag, which clanked with the sound of vodka bottles knocking against each other.

"He thinks that Bela's back and haunting him. Thinks that he's seeing him when I don't."

"He's hallucinating?!"

"Seems like it." Replied Sam nonchalantly.

"Sam, you gidget!"

"Wha?"

"Saico Faangurls begin their feeding by invading a victim's dream for two days, on the third day, the victim's delusions begin to manifest themselves outside of their dreams. The delusions manifest themselves to the point where the victim is drawn to the Saico Faangurl. It's a "

Sam's eyes widened. "Don't tell me…"

"Dean's been infected." Said Sam

"You need to get to him…NOW" growled Bobby, his voice stern and urgent a signal of just hos serious

Sam opened the door to the motel room. Empty. Shit. Fuck. Where was he? Couldn't have gone far. Sam told himself, the room was still a bit of a mess, an unmade bed, beer all over the place, a broken lamp. Did he leave to get some fresh air? Sam took a look at his watch, 6:43 PM, late, other than a bar, but Sam had told Dean that he was coming back with booze, so where else could he have gone?

A phone call, which vibrated within the confines of Sam's coat, brought his state of mind back to reality. "Hello?" asked Sam.

"Mr. Winchester?" asked a chirpy female voice on the other end of the line.

"Yes? Who is this?" asked Sam

"This is Anita from the flower shop. I was calling to tell you about the Bloody Rose."

"Uh huh."

"Well I called your brother earlier, and told him that we actually got our supply from a women named: Beatrix Sinclaie, he freaked out and hung up."

Sam pondered for a second. Where had he heard that name before? His blood froze in his veins, it was the name of the coroner. She was it. She was the Saico Faangurl.

_To be concluded _

A/N: Schools' been taking it's toll on me and this chapter took longer than expected to finish. Hopefully the final chapter will come sooner. Looking back, I realized that this story was much more than a Sam/Ruby story, it's more of a Dean-is-guilty fic. Hopefully the next story will be more geared towards Sam/Ruby.

Leave a review folks, it's great that you favor my story and all, but it's the reviews that really motivate me into writing.


	5. Chapter 5

Nightmares

Chapter 5: Hell Follows

Dean raised the barrel of his Browning 1911 pistol up to his eye level. The grip on his trigger shaking fearfully. He glared angrily at his target who looked terrified to see such a weapon. He couldn't care less about the look on her face, he was sick and tired of these nightmares. Disgusted from the remembering of his sins and the horrors that he had inflicted on others. A cold reminder of how easily he broke under the influence of hell, of how far he had fallen. Even now he could hear the whispers of the Saico Faangurl in his ear, Bela's voice, he tried everything he could to forget to no avail.

She was in the corner, her hands raised in a sign of nonaggression, shivering. "Please…" stuttered Beatrice, her arms raised in defense, her back pressed firmly against the wall. "Agent Murdock, why are you doing this?"

Dean said nothing, it was taking all of his willpower to ignore the voices in his head. The voices swam throughout his

"_Kill her," _

"_Can you resist her?" _

"_Take her, you know you want her." _

"_She's no Bela." _

"_Blood and sex…" _

"_Hell follows soon…." _

He tightened the grip on his pistol.

"Don't play dumb bitch." Snarled Dean. "I know what you are. I just can't figure out how you're doing what you do. Doesn't matter anyways, it ends here."

"What are you talking about?" sobbed Beatrice, the brown curls of her hair with each cry. "Please just let me go, I won't tell any one about this. I promise."

"Enough." Growled Dean grabbing her by the wrist and pressing the gun to her chin, "Enough of the crap…" His voice suddenly sounded like music to him, his vision slowly became blurry. What was happening to him? Legs failed him causing him to buckle down to his knees. His breath suddenly became ragged and labored.

Beatrice walked up to him and smiled. Her face calm and serene The tears in her eyes dried as they narrowed into an arrogantly devious gaze. "You're right." She said. The fear in her voice had evaporated the moment Dean fell to his knees. Her tone suddenly became more sensual and seductive. "Time to drop the games. You know who I am, what I am." Her hair was beginning to change from a straight brown to a more wild and wavy crimson color. Her skin went from a pale tone of milky white to a darker shade of caramel. Blue eyes became green eyes. Her entire presence exuded a fine air of elegance and beauty, even from the way she stood and talked."Wanna know something about us Saico Faangurls?" she purred sensually as she cupped Dean's chin. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen before in his life. "We're never satisfied. We love and love and love until our mate dies from exhaustion. Then we find another to love again. We're so…lonely."

"Bite me." Growled Dean through tightly gritted teeth trying to pull himself away from her, his hand slowly reaching for his knife. Silver, dipped in holy water, hopefully it'll be enough to exterminate her. He slashed at her, a futile effort, she caught his arm and flung him across the room.

Beatrice frowned before she seemingly glided over to him. "Ooh resistance." She teased pulling Dean closer to him. Her breath, hot and musky "You're the first one." Her voice was like music slowly drowning him. Her scent like nothing he had ever smelled before. Intoxicating all of his senses. "What's wrong? Is it my appearance. Dean blinked, and suddenly she was Bela once again. The same amber colored hair, the same green eyes, everything. "Or do you prefer me like this?" even her voice changed. "Do you prefer a women who makes you feel stupid? A women who surpasses you in every conceivable way?" Her hair suddenly blazed out into a fiery red, a burst of sunlight in this place of hell. Her skin turned pale, the color of milk, her body thin and wispy. Anna Milton, the angel. "Or do you prefer a piece of the sacred fruit. Does it help you think that you're worthy of redemption?" Dean felt sick to his stomach. "After everything you've done?"

She changed again, this time tan skin, full lips, a thin yet well toned body and long flowing chocolate brown hair. Lisa Braden. "Or do you prefer a slice of the normalcy. A life of peace that you'll never have." She whispered. "A family. Someone to love? Isn't that why you pulled your brother away from his life? You couldn't stand the fact that he was normal, that he was happy without you, could you? You knew that you were perfectly capable of finding your father on your own. You just couldn't handle the fact that he was happy, that he had somebody while you had nothing. You hated how he was fulfilled while you were still this empty shell of a man."

Dean felt his throat sink into his stomach as he realized just how true her words are. He had hated this life that he had been forced into, hated the killings, the endless violence, the pain, everything. But most of all, he hated the fact that it never ended, there was always another battle to be fought, another scumbag who made him lose his faith in humanity, another idiot who had invoked the wrong demon at the wrong time, another douchebag who pissed off the wrong ghost, another monster killing good innocent people. None of it mattered.

"What do I want? I want what you want. The reason for my entire existence is to serve you." Chuckled Beatrix, a soft slender finger drew circles on his chest. "I can be whatever you want." She whispered softly, her breath was sweet and cool, burning his skin cold with each word. "Just tell me what you want."

"Peace…" he breathed through his teeth, the knife clanked loudly as it dropped to the ground.

Broken.

Beatrice smiled as she shifted back to her human skin. A soft change, one that he had barely noticed.

"Come…" she whispered holding out her hand. "I can give you everything you want. Everything you've been waiting for."

With shivering hands Dean took it. Black shadows overtook him.

The Impala was a magnificent machine, it ran smoother than the majority of the modern cars during the few times and much faster than any foreign car that Sam had ever driven or stolen. Right now even the Impala's impressive speed did not seem fast enough to the younger Winchester. Dean was possessed by the Saico Faangurl, and Sam had no idea how to help "Things will work out." Sam told himself as he steadily increased his foot's pressure on the gas pedal and sped up. It was the only thing he could tell himself. Sam prayed to whatever deity would listen that Ruby had a plan because he sure as hell didn't. Bobby had mentioned a few things about the Saico Faangurl which Sam thought would come in handy.

"_The Saico Faangurl is obsessive, it learns everything there is to know about its victim, sucks their soul out then moves onto the next person. It bonds to its victim by implanting a fraction of its soul into their If you want to kill it, you have to break its bond with its victim first. You kill it before then and everyone that's bonded to it dies along with the Saico Faangurl." _Claimed Bobby.

His cellphone rang in his pocket

"Ruby where are you?"

"Outside, let's just say that I'm prepping for the worst."

"Please tell me you have a plan."

"I figured we'd just try winging it first." Her voice was half joking

He stepped harder on the gas, praying that he wasn't too late.

Ruby didn't like the fact that she had to do this spell, truth be told she wasn't even sure that this spell and the incantation that went with it would even work. She wished that she hadn't lent the Winchesters her demon-killing knife. She quickly added the owl talon into the dark oak bowl that she had been using to make the Hex bag. She crushed the talon into a fine powder with a grinder before pouring the fine powder into a dark leather hex bag and sealed it tightly. Taking a breath to calm herself she wrapped a thin leather cord around the top of the bag. "A grenade." She muttered half amused at the thought. One good throw and the ingredients would spill all over the Saico Faangurl weakening her enough for the incantation to send the bitch back to whatever hell hole she had dragged herself out of. One of the benefits of being a rogue demon and a former witch, a large knowledge of information of the occult.

A finger brushed a stray lock of chocolate brown hair out of her right eye. Even after six months she had yet to get used to being 4 inches shorter than her previous meat suit. She had liked the blonde vessel, it was a pretty one, no doubt previously inhabited by it really was a shame that that bitch Lilith had stolen it from her. But this body would do, it was this body that proved to Sam, how serious she was about killing Lilith. This body that had slayed so many of her lackies, and this body that had become one with his. She wasn't ready for this. Too much was swimming in her mind. Castiel's talk with her had thrown her off. Absent mindedly she fingered the necklace around her neck, a gold cross. A demon from hell wearing a cross. Even the Lord himself would laugh at the sad irony of that situation.

No, not a demon. Something else.

She was something else, neither human nor demon but something new entirely.

But definitely not an angel.

"A light, what the hell is that even supposed to mean?" she muttered to herself. Lost in her own thoughts. Too many thoughts, not enough action.

"Ruby."

She turned to face Sam, quickly putting on her mask of cocky confidence and smart-ass remarks. "Ready to go help your dumbass brother?"

He nodded, his green eyes a mix of readiness and uneasiness. It didn't matter to him that she had insulted Dean, the fact that she was here to help was more than he could possibly ask for.

They found her in her office, sipping a cup of coffee. The room bore a sickly yellow glow in it, electrical devices flickered on and off throughout the room. Her eyes held within them the tiniest hint of arrogance, the type of arrogance only found in a person expecting absolute victory. "Hello Detective Murdoch….or should I say…Sam Winchester." Beatrice said with a devious smile rising from her desk. "And Ruby, I'm surprised that you've managed to elude Lilith's assasins for so long…"

"What do you want?" growled Sam.

"What do I want, I wan-"

Sam's gun was already drawn, three bullets right into her chest, just as his father had taught him when he was young. Let the bitch run her mouth, let her give him the perfect chance to shoot her. "Ouch." She said clutching her chest. Soft wisps of smoke rose from the points of impacts. "That stung…but it'll take more than a lot more than iron bullets and rock salt to hurt me little boy." Suddenly she was upon him, her hand tightly gripping his neck. Choking the very life out of him. "I liked that blouse." Her grip tightened.

"Ruby…" coughed Sam, his lungs burned for air, his throat ached for release and air as he struggled to break her hold on his neck. "RUBY!"

The hex bag burst upon impact with Beatrice spilling the powders all over her body. She dropped Sam in surprise. Screams of agony suddenly filled the air as the effects of the hex bag began to take in. Her skin bubbled with heat, steam rose from her pores as she burned, her eyes cried crimson tears of blood. Ruby's eyes glowed black with demonic power as she concentrated. "Saico Faangurl, uoy deen ot teg a efil. Pots gnitirw os ynam hsals scif." She murmured her arm outstretched. Beatrice fell to the ground howling with agony. "Saico Faangurl, uoy deen ot teg a efil. Pots gnitirw os ynam hsals scif."

Beatrix screamed a high pitch wail of agonizing pain. Her body's appearance shifting from appearance to appearance. Lisa Braden, Anna, Bela, Madison, Jessica, other women that Sam didn't recognize.

" Saico Faangurl, uoy deen ot teg a efil. Pots gnitirw os ynam hsals scif."

The lights in the room were starting to return, less flickering. The scent of sulfur was suddenly displaced by the smell of burning flesh filled Sam's nostrils, a disgustingly putrid scent.

"Saico Faangurl, uoy deen ot teg a efil. Pots gnitirw os ynam hsals scif."

Beatrice began to thrash about in pain, her limbs bent and contoured in directions that limbs should not be bent in.

"Saico Faangurl, uoy deen ot teg a efil. Pots gnitirw os yna-"

*THONK!*

Ruby crumbled to the floor in pain. Almost instantaneously Beatrice recovered, her skin transforming from a bubbled burnt red to a more refined rose red color Sam quickly turned his head towards Ruby's direction Standing above Ruby's fallen body was Dean, his hands tightly gripped a fire extinguisher. His eyes bore the tiniest hint of obsession and rage. He turned to Sam, a devious smile on his face.

"Dean…" Said Sam, reaching for his gun. He quickly scanned the room for Beatrice. She was already healing up, bullet softly falling to the floor as her wounds healed. The exorcism attempt had failed. "C'mon man. This isn't you. She's controlling you Dean, fight it! "

Dean was silent before he hurled the fire extinguisher at him. Sam quickly rolled out of the way before the extinguisher smashed into the wooden wall sending splinters flying everywhere. BAM! A bullet narrowly missed him by three inches, burrowing itself into the drywall with ease. BAM! BAM! Glass from the window above Sam rained down upon hum, showering him with shallow cuts and scrapes. The situation had suddenly gotten out of hand. He needed to do something quick before Dean ended up accidentally killing him. Or vice versa.

Bobby's words suddenly echoed through his head.

"_It bonds to its victim by implanting a fraction of its soul into their If you want to kill it, you have to break its bond with its victim first." _

Break bond? Was that like exorcising a demon? No, he had sworn never to use those powers again…But this was Dean. His Brother.

He had to risk it.

He closed his eyes and focused. Pulled towards the darkness from within him, the twisted, hated essence that had been given to him by that Yellowed-Eyed son of a bitch. He gathered the essence towards the calm center of his soul, struggling to keep it from consuming him. It was always like this, always fighting to keep that putrid blackness from devouring him from the inside whenever he called upon its power. It came not in a trickle but in a torrent of overwhelming power, he had drawn this much of the darkness within him twice. Once when he had exorcised Samhain from the body of that dead science teacher, once when he attempted to send Alastair back to hell.

Then he drew more.

He focused the wild power into a single ball, compressed it into a controllable form, a ball of controlled chaos, of controlled destruction. And with a single breath he unleashed such power from within him.

Beatrix's eyes widened when she realized what Sam was trying to do. "NO!" she screeched diving for Sam. Dean screamed in pain as the blast hit him, as if they were two connected puppets, Beatrix flew into the wall, crumbling own in pain. Dean clutched his chest as he felt the force emanating from his brother burn its way into his very soul. Tearing at something within him. NO! Her love was being torn from him. He struggled to hold onto it, hold onto the peace that he craved.

HE WOULD NOT LET IT GO.

Sam increased the intensity, grabbed hold more of the blackness within him, feeling sicker and sicker as he struggled to maintain his control over the power, maintain the ball, maintain the control. The ball of darkness within him was starting to distort, lose its shape, its control. "Dammit Dean…." Growled Sam, he could feel his blood boiling within him. He had never felt like this before, the pain almost breaking his control over the power and still he drew even more of the blackness from within him.

"AGGH!" screamed Sam as he let loose with one final massive burst of his power, desperately trying to keep his mind off of the pain that was surging throughout his body. The blackness felt like it was trying to rip him apart from the inside out. Fire burned through his veins, lava filled his lungs, he was burning.

_He. _

_Was. _

_Burning. _

Dean suddenly felt it, like his heart and soul had been ripped from his chest. Like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Like the awakening from a dream. Clarity. Awareness. Then he saw her. Her back was turned to him, silently standing in distant field of massive golden sunflowers. A brilliant radiance shone down upon her from the heavens giving her a golden aura. Bright amber hair danced alongside the breeze, her emerald eyes shone brilliantly as she turned to face him, a soft smile decorated her delicate

features. Bela. Beautiful.

"_Dean. Have you forgiven yourself yet?" _She asked softly, her voice was music. Melodic, like the rumble he heard every time he started the Impala, like the soulful strum of a guitar. Classic rock, not that new age douchey My Chemical Romance and Justin Bieber crap. _"I've already forgiven you. There is still much that you need to do…" _

She faded back into white, was it Heaven? Or was it somewhere else?

Dean awoke to the sound of screaming.

"SAM! SAM!" screamed a female voice. He looked to see Ruby squatting by Sam, desperately trying to keep his entire body from thrashing. He immediately ran over."What's going on?" he asked in a frantic voice. Sam's eyes were black weeping tears of blood, veins along the side of his head had grown to the size of pencils threatened to burst without warning. "What the hell is going on with him?"

"I don't know!" exclaimed Ruby her voice cracked with fear and worry. "There's never been someone like Sam before. So NO ONE has experienced this before!"

Ruby's eyes widened when she noticed Dean reaching for his gun. She didn't have time to reach for her knife when Dean let loose with three shots which whizzed past her ear and into the chest of Beatrix causing her to stumble back in surprise. Ruby turned around in shock. "Take care of him." Growled Dean getting up. "I have some unfinished business to deal with."

Dean let loose with three more bullets, three more holes in her chest, along with his three and Sam's three, that had made nine. Nothing. "Dean…WHY WON'T YOU LOVE ME?" she screamed angrily, windows and lights shattering with the sheer force of her scream. "LOVE ME DEAN LIKE I LOVE YOU!" she screamed blowing Dean through a wall into the next room with blast of telekinesis sending him crashing into a large file cabinet.

"Bitch, you are out of your damn mind. Get it into that thick head of yours, I don't love you and get a life you whiny, overbearing, needy skank." Growled Dean, he reached behind him and felt around for his hunting knife. Beatrix screeched angrily before she dived towards Dean, her beautiful features suddenly becoming distorted. Her rows of even teeth suddenly became long curved as if she had spent months filing them into sharp points, her flawless skin became cracked like stone, her lush hair, suddenly became shaggy and beast like.

"LOVE ME!" screamed Beatrix

Dean stabbed downward into her neck, the blade of the knife sheathing itself up to the hilt into her neck. She howled in pain as she dropped to the ground. Dean scrambled to get up before delivering a powerful kick to her face sending her flying. His eyes quickly traveled to a massive red box nailed to the wall. **In Case of Fire**. An elbow to the glass panel shattered the casing that protected the massive red fire axe that it stored. Beatrix had just managed to pull the knife out of her neck when she noticed Dean charging at her with the axe. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the axe swing. Her eyes remained that way, wide and terrified, when the axe blade smashed itself into her neck, burying it's way through her neck. Her mouth opened in a silent final scream of terror as the axe slashed through skin, through muscle, through tendon, cleaving it's way through bone before finally exiting on the other side of her neck.

Her head dropped to the ground with a nearly soundless thud, followed by her body, no blood squirted out of the stump that had once housed the insane head of a Saico Faangurl, another sign of her soulless existence. Her eyes glazed over with the emptiness of death."You were right, Sam." Muttered Dean as he collapsed to the floor in exhaustion. "We could always cut off her head."

Ruby watched helplessly Sam howled in pain, thrashing violently as the convulsions got worse and worse. "Stay calm." She muttered, there had to be something she could do. It was the demon blood, no doubt about it, burning its way through Sam. He would either die or turn into something else completely. That was when Castiel's words echoed through the panicked recesses of her mind: "Your soul carries a light amongst the dark void that formed from your time stayed in hell. This light, whatever it may be, has prevented the total corruption of your soul. Yet the darkness means that that you aren't human either. You are something completely different."

The words lingered as Ruby debated the gamble, demon blood, not demon blood, something else's. It was worth the risk.

Sam was worth the risk.

"Don't hate me for this Sam." She mumbled under her breath as she pulled a knife from her boot. Sam's eyes widened in shock. Cursing under her breath as she cut across her hand. Sam let out a scream of pain, plenty of time for Ruby to force the wound on her hand across his mouth, blood spilling into his mouth like water being poured from a bottle. Choking on the blood as it flooded into him, visions filled his mind's eye. A life, not his own, lived. It washed over him, a life lived, one of mistakes, sadness, happiness, anger, despair and hope, a life all lived by someone else. Vivid visions of horses, cottages, peasants, nobles knights and ancient times lost within the streams of time, through her eyes.

Memories.

Her memories all mixing with his forming a brilliant coalescent stream of knowledge. Of wisdom. Her memories were his memories. Her joy became his joy. Her sorrow became his sorrow.

Her past became his past.

Sam gasped and choked as the blazing pain within him slowly subsided, cracks and cricks in his body popped back into place as his bones somehow repaired themselves, sinews, muscles and tendons all regenerated, pain disappeared. The ball of raging darkness within him disappeared, changing into something else completely. Was it Light? Had his body been healed?

"Ruby." Sa choked out in between rapid shallow breaths of air. "What the hell just happened?"

Ruby shook her head, what could she possibly tell him. Explain that she wasn't exactly a demon nor human, and she gambled his life on him drinking her blood? What was there for her to do?

She ran.

The beer tasted like piss. Piss poor beer in a piss poor town after a piss poor night. Yet it was the only booze he was able to find, so Dean continued to down it. The voices were gone. Thank God. But the memories of hell and guilt still remained. He hated remembering. That crazy bitch had done more damage than she could have possibly imagined. At the very least, he was now free of her influence and the nightmares that she had inflicted upon her. The memories of being possessed were hazy, was this how it was like when Sam got possessed? No matter. He knew that he was still seeing Ruby behind his back. He still didn't trust her, but for now he could accept her as an ally. After all, she did help save his life. So for now he would accept her as whatever the hell she was.

He took another swig of his beer. Truth be told, he hated drinking. He hated drinking to bury his problems even more, but right now he was lost without the liquor. He sat atop of the Impala debating on whether or not he should call him out. Screw it.

"CAS!" yelled Dean.

The sound of fluttering wings filled the air for only the briefest second.

"Hello Dean."

Dean turned to find Castiel standing along the side of the Impala. As always he wore the wrinkled suit and tan trenchcoat of his vessel. The vessel's face was unshaven and hard, an expression devoid of any emotion. Of any humanity.

"Want a beer?" asked Dean holding up the sixpack of beer he had gotten at the corner store.

Castiel gave him an even harder look than usual.

"Just kidding."

"Why have you called me here, Dean." asked Castiel, his monotone voice bore within it the slightest hint of impatience.

"I need a favor." Said Dean, "There's a women, Bela. I want you to pull her out of hell."

Castiel shook his head. "You know I can't do that Dean."

"And why not?" snarled Dean angrily hurling the bottle of beer at Cas, it disintegrated into nothingness before it even reached him. "You did it for me!"

"You're different." Replied Castiel as he walked over to the Impala, even his movements seemed inhuman. "Heaven has need for you."

"And what about her? She was given a shitty situation, child molestor dad and an abusive mother. She was tempted by a demon for a better life. What choice did she have? What could she have done? What makes me so special? What made me worth saving?"

"The Lord never gives us more than we can handle." Said Castiel as he placed a hand upon Dean's back, "Everything that you need to succeed has already been given to you. He wants you to be strong enough to rise above any and all hardships that he may give you."

Dean looked over, tears in his eyes.

"Forgive yourself." Said Castiel, his tone was sympathetic. Sympathy from an angel, the irony was almost enough to make him laugh. "Live for both her and yourself, you're no good to anyone when you pity yourself."

Another flutter of wings, almost as quiet as a soft breeze and he was gone.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Okay! Okay! I'm coming." Cried Ruby in an annoyed tone of voice. She opened the door of her motel to find Sam. Suddenly she wished that she wore more than a pair of baby blue short shorts and a white tank top. Weird. She normally didn't care much for modesty. "Hi."

"Hi." A brief period of silence that seemed to stretch onto forever. "Can we talk?"

Ruby looked away before she nodded, biting her lower lip nervously as she did so.

"So…I have memories in my head that don't belong to me."

Ruby's eyes widened.

"I'm not sure what exactly happened last night." Began Sam, "I do know that I never want to use those powers again after what happened."

"Sam listen…." She started before she hesitated, how could she explain what she herself did not understand?

"I feel different. Like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest. Like the darkness that's been eating away at me has been dispersed…changed into something else."

"Sam, you were drying and I did what I thought needed to be done to save you." Said Ruby, "Whatever's happened to you…I'm sorry."

Sam let out a deep breath. "It's fine…Dean says thank you for saving his life."

"Dean said thank you?" asked Ruby raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.

Sam let out a chuckle. "Well, he said that we did good work…which is about as good as it gets with him." He looked at her and wondered just how she really looked. The body that she was inhabiting wasn't exactly her's to begin with, a coma victim that she had chosen to possess in order to interact with the human world. But nonetheless, he found her brown hair and green eyes to be aesthetically pleasing to his eyes. "Yeah, but Dean still doesn't trust you."

"Sam?"

"Yeah, Ruby?"

"Fuck what your brother thinks of me." She said before leaping into his arms and kissing him deeply. Her arms quickly wrapping themselves behind his neck, her legs around his waist as she deepened the kiss catching Sam by surprise. Sam reciprocated as he carried her into the motel room and closed the door behind them.

Dean could wait.

The sound of fluttering wings was the only thing that alerted Castiel to his companion's presence.

"He feels guilt." Declared Castiel, meeting on a rooftop was his companion's idea.

"He should. He has much to make up for." Replied his companion, her voice female.

"Guilt is easy, redemption is much more difficult."

Castiel nodded. "Trying to achieve redemption, you of all people should know that better than anyone."

A soft chuckle.

"You know what you have to do, you know why we brought you back." Castiel said turning to face his companion. "Bela."

The body wasn't hers, nor did it even come close to resembling her former appearance. Rather than voluptuous and beautiful, this vessel was plump and plain looking, a step down from what Bela was used to. But nonetheless, she made do."Yes, yes, you angels and your tasks for us poor mortals."

"Not many of Heaven's forces know that I pulled you out of hell that day. But we need you if we are to stop Lilith." Said Castiel, "Are you satisfied with Dean Winchester's guilt?"

"Guilt is easy, redemption is harder." She reiterated.

"You were the one who communicated with Dean during his confrontation with the Saico Faangurl weren't you? You placed those visions in his head after he was freed from her influence"

Bela nodded. "He needed a little….encouraging."

"Just find the Colt." Said Castiel.

"And then will I get my real wings? Rather than these training wheels you slapped onto me" asked Bela.

Castiel glared. "When you deserve them."

The flutter of wings was the only sound Castiel heard as Bela disappeared.

"Hell follows soon…" he whispered as he stared off into the distance. The sun was just beginning to set upon the horizon.

Night was coming.

A/N: I apologize for the massive amount of time it took for me to complete this chapter on account of my graduating college and now working. I hope you liked it. Also I apologize to any My Chemical Romance fans that I may have offended.

Read and Review.


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